ABSTRACT
Cyclodextrins (CDs) are cyclic oligosaccharides with a hydrophilic outer surface and a lipophilic inner cavity. In nanotechnology, crosslinked CDs have been employed to produce CD-based nanosponges (NSs). Since their discovery and for more than 100 years, CDs have been the subject of many scientific publications. CDs are cyclic oligosaccharides with a hydrophilic outer surface and a lipophilic inner cavity. CDs are able to trap lipophilic molecules or lipophilic moieties in their inner cavity, when found in the aqueous environment. Since the structure of CDs had been extensively studied and identified by the early 70s’, thousands of applications have been noted, especially in the fields of drug, food, and agriculture. NSs are porous colloidal structures consisting of hyper-crosslinked polymers forming particles with nano-sized cavities. NSs crystal structure strongly afects their loading capacity. CD-MOFs possess certain stability and solubility characteristics, due to their hydrophobic internal cavity and hydrophilic external surface in aqueous media.
